


ninety - based on a true story

by cheesebin



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: High School, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Marijuana, Underage Drinking, for the sake of the story they're all seniors, its graduation season so everyones going wild, love triangle?, maybe some side changlix/changjin, platonic jilix
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2019-10-23 04:32:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17676506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheesebin/pseuds/cheesebin
Summary: in which the soccer team wins a big game and at the afterparty jisung gets blackout drunk and doesn’t remember what happens.. but minho does.or in other words, it's graduation season and as high school comes to a close, things get out of hand.





	1. Chapter 1

It was 8AM on a Monday, and Jisung was exhausted. He was sitting down in his usual seat at the front of his Spanish class, when he heard the most beautiful giggle come from the doorway. He glanced up to see Chan and Minho walk in, their soccer backpacks slung over each of their shoulders. Minho took the seat next to Jisung, (as per usual) and Chan sat down on the other side of Minho. As they were sitting down, Chan asked,

“Hey Minho, you going to prom with anyone?”

Jisung immediately felt awake, as he whipped his head to face Minho, who wasn’t looking at him, but instead staring right back at Chan.

“O-oh, I was thinking that I don’t really want to go to prom with anyone, I kinda just want to go by myself, you know?” Minho says, while pulling his book out from his backpack.

“Really?”, Chan asks, “I mean, not to be rude or anything but why?” Chan asks softly, taking a glance at Jisung staring intently at the back of Minho’s head.

“The whole idea of going to prom with people is stupid, you just hang out with them for a night then never talk to them again, what’s the point?” Minho shrugs it off and opens up his book, looking over at Jisung for the first time that morning. “Hey Jisung,” he smiles, “how was your weekend?”

Jisung was, for a lack of a better word, paralyzed. He felt his heart drop in his chest as Minho spoke those words, basically crushing his ego and any hope that he had for his dream graduation night. Instead of responding to Minho’s question, he showed a fake smile and nodded, letting out a small “good” before opening his book and pretending to study.

Jisung slung his backpack lazily over his shoulder as he walked out of his classroom to head to lunch. He made his way through the hallway, avoiding eye contact with everyone walking around him. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep. It was only a Monday but he felt as if his spirits had been crushed from what Minho said earlier.

_ “I don’t really want to go to prom with anyone, I kinda just want to go by myself, you know?” _

Hearing the words over and over again in his head made Jisung feel almost guilty for ever thinking there was a possibility of Minho going to prom with him. Hell, he didn’t even know if Minho would take the proposal seriously or if he would assume that Jisung intended to go as friends. 

The combination of the masses of people pushing past him in the hallway and Jisung’s thoughts going a million miles an hour caused him to start to feel dizzy. He slowly made his way towards the bathroom at the edge of the hallway, grabbing onto the wall for support. Jisung hadn’t had time for breakfast this morning, as he slept through his alarm. When he got into the washroom, he placed his hands on either side of the sink and looked up to see his pale face and bloodshot eyes. He knew Felix and the other boys were waiting for him and that he had to pull himself together. Turning on the sink, he splashed his face with cold water to try and wake himself up.

Jisung knew that Minho shouldn’t have been affecting him this much, but the thoughts racing through his head were only to do with the boy that he knew he could never have.

When Jisung finally reached the cafeteria, he saw his group of 8 friends sitting at a table directly in the middle of the room. He went and grabbed his lunch before taking a seat next to Felix and across from Chan. His friends were all in the midst of a heated conversation about the upcoming game that weekend. 

Jisung had met these boys in his freshman year when they all tried out for the soccer team, and had grown closer to all of them throughout high school. When they were freshmen, they bonded on the bench and the sidelines which led to them hanging out after practice and frequently on the weekends. Jisung knew he was lucky to have all of these boys as his friends, and has grown and learned so much with them all. The one thing they all had in common was their love for soccer. Every year, their team had come so close to being in the gold medal game for their league, but had never made it into the final game. They had always lost in the semi-final, placing them in the third-fourth place game, resulting in three consecutive bronze medal wins for the first three years of these boys’ high school careers. Now, they were seniors, and more determined than ever to win the gold medal.

All of the boys around Jisung were talking about how they were going to crush their rival school in the semi-final game that weekend, but Jisung stayed silent. As the boys were yelling and laughing with each other, Jisung’s eyes stayed locked on Minho’s smiling face.

He doesn’t know when it started, but Jisung felt drawn to Minho. Ever since they first met, Jisung admired him. Although he wasn’t Jisung’s closest friend in the group (that role is reserved for Felix), it was the little things that made Jisung love him. Once, Jisung had mentioned that he prefers phone calls to text messages, so Minho made a point of calling Jisung whenever he wanted to talk rather than texting. It was the little smile that Minho would have on his face when he was happy, his little giggles,  when he ran his fingers through his hair, or when he showed his passion and perseverance on the soccer pitch.    


Jisung first discovered he was in love with Lee Minho on one chilly November night.

_ It was the first Friday of the boys’ winter break in junior year. Jisung was packing his things to leave for his grandparents’ house the next day, when he noticed his phone vibrating.  _

_ “Hello?” Jisung answered. _

_ “Hey Ji, what’re you up to right now?” Minho says in a concerningly monotone voice. _

_ “Uh, I’m just packing to leave for my grandparents’ house tomorrow, why?” _

_ “Do you want to meet me at the beach in 20 minutes?” _

_ “Y-yeah, sure-” Minho cuts off Jisung before he is able to ask why, _

_ “Alright see you there.” Minho says and hangs up the call. _

_ Jisung looks at the time, 5:00pm. It usually takes him about twenty minutes to walk to the beach, so he grabs his keys and yells “Hey, I’m going to see Minho for a little bit!” as he slams his door behind him, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket to hide from the chilly November air. Jisung would consider himself and Minho close friends, but they have never hung out one-on-one outside of school, only with their friend group or at least some other member of their team. _

_ When Jisung arrived at the beach, he noticed that the sun was about to set and the beach was almost deserted. Most likely due to the fact that it was November and nobody goes to the beach in November, unless they’re crazy. He saw the top of Minho’s head peeking out behind a log, and he was facing the sea. Jisung padded his way through the sand, trying to not get it in his sneakers. When he came close enough, Minho looked up at Jisung with rosy cheeks and showed a weak smile. _

_ “Hey” Minho says before turning his head to look back at the water. _

_ “Hey,” Jisung replies, “So why’d you tell me to come here?” he asks, genuinely curious as to why the older called him to come to the beach in the middle of the winter. _

_ “I don’t know, I just wanted to hang out with you.” Minho says, still staring straight ahead. Jisung didn’t reply, because frankly he didn’t know how to. A long pause occurred between the two, before Minho broke it by saying “I guess I’m just scared. And I don’t really know who else would listen to me.” _

_ Jisung doesn’t know if he should be flattered that Minho chose him to share his fears with, or if he should be worried that Minho has been holding all of this in for so long. “What are you scared of?” Jisung squeaks out, rather shocked. _

_ “Everything, life, people, school i guess.” Minho pauses, pulling his hood over his head but turning his head so he is facing Jisung, “It just kinda hit me that we aren’t going to be in high school forever, you know.” _

_ Jisung realized that he hadn’t thought about that much either. He leaned back on a log and pushed his toes into the sand, letting out a breath that he could see in front of his face. “I’m not ready either” are the only words he is able to choke out. _

_ The younger boy looked back over to Minho and sees the other in such a vulnerable state he had never seen him in before. Usually when he saw Minho, he was strong and aggressive on the soccer field, and always seemed like he had everything pulled together. That November night on the beach, Jisung saw a new side of Minho. He realized that the image he had created of in his head of this perfect boy who had nothing to worry about was just an illusion that he had developed a crush on throughout the last two years. _

_ The boys talked until the sun went down, and Jisung came to a realization. _

_ Jisung realized he no longer had a crush on the Minho he thought he knew, but instead he was in love with the Minho he had just met on that beach. _  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

There was one problem. Jisung tried his best not to think about it because every time he did, he would feel an overwhelming anxiety and like a hundred-pound weight was pressing down on his chest. He had known ever since that night on the beach, when Minho told him something that had pierced right through Jisung’s chest.

_Minho told Jisung that he was in love with Felix, and he had been since their freshman year._

Jisung’s external reaction to hearing this did not even come close to how he was feeling on the inside. He gave Minho a small understanding smile and nodded, choking out a small “Oh”. It wasn’t a disappointed ‘oh’, it was more of a ‘I’m happy for you’, or a ‘good luck I hope everything works out’ oh. Even though Jisung had pretended that he wasn’t hurt by Minho’s statement, he felt like his heartstrings were snapping one by one.

Felix was Jisung’s best friend, and even though he hadn’t done anything, Jisung felt an obligation to hate him out of jealousy in that moment. Jisung wasn’t angry, he felt more betrayed and offended. On the outside, it appeared that everything had always come easily to Felix, his family had money, he had the looks, the athleticism, this aura that made everyone want to be his friend, and so much more. Jisung wondered to himself, _does Minho even know the real Felix?_

The real Felix who had to take anti-anxiety medication because of his panic disorder that he tried to hide behind a smile, the Felix who couldn’t sleep at night because of his insomnia, the Felix who just needed a friend like Jisung to look out for him.

The thoughts in Jisung’s head were running at a million miles an hour, and he came to his final conclusion.

_He can’t hate Felix, he’s his best friend and hasn’t done anything wrong. He can’t hate Minho either, because he’s fallen for Felix which he really can’t blame anyone for doing._

Jisung had to admit, Felix was a catch. Although he had his personal struggles, he did an amazing job of persevering and pretending that he was alright, even when Jisung could tell he wasn’t. Felix was selfless, always putting others before him. He would sometimes stop caring about himself just to cater to others, which is when Jisung would have to step in and take care of Felix.

When the Australian boy showed up on the first day of school in freshman year, their teacher had assigned the seating arrangement so that Felix sit beside Jisung, the boy with his oversized hoodie pulled over his hands, pretending to pay attention while he doodled in the margins of his math notebook. Felix sat and introduced himself with a smile. Over the course of the first semester, the boys grew closer through late night study sessions at Felix’s house, and of course, soccer tryouts.

_It Jisung’s first day of high school, and it may sound cliché, but he was terrified out of his mind._ _He was sitting in the gymnasium surrounded by kids he didn’t know, waiting for the principal to start addressing the students for their first assembly of the year._

_All of the students around Jisung were chatting and laughing with each other, and it seemed like everyone had made friends already, except for him. He pulled his hoodie sleeves over his hands and started pulling at one loose string, trying to rip it off. As Jisung stared into his lap, at the sleeves of his hoodie, he heard a man clearing his throat echo through the speakers throughout the gym. He looked up to see the balding principal holding a piece of paper and standing in front of the microphone._

_The principal gave his welcoming remarks to the returning and new students of the school, and started droning on about class schedules and such. When he finished, Jisung let out a sigh of relief and leaned back into the bleacher behind him. Just when he thought he could leave; a short woman had replaced the principal in front of the microphone._

_She was wearing sneakers and a long bench jacket, and stood with her hands behind her back, no notes to read off of. As the students quieted down, she started to speak._

_“Hello everyone, my name is Coach Choi, and if you are interested in playing boys soccer this semester, please stay behind after assembly. Thank you. The rest of you are dismissed” She said softly, before stepping to the back of the gymnasium, hands in her pockets._

_The students started to grab their things and their friends and make their way out of the gym, but Jisung stayed glued to his seat. He had played soccer in a competitive league throughout his childhood, but hadn’t expected his school to have a team. He looked up at the sports banners hanging from the ceiling and searched for a soccer one. The last time his school had won a blue banner was 17 years ago._

_The gym was almost half empty, and Jisung could see a group of boys forming around where the soccer coach was standing near the back of the gymnasium. He got up from his seat, adjusting his hood as he made his way to the group of boys._

_Jisung looked around and it was obvious to him that he wasn’t going to make the varsity team. All of the boys around him looked stronger, taller, and more confident than him. Some were already chatting with the boys around him, and he could see a couple of them already wearing jackets with VARSITY SOCCER written across them in big red letters._

_The boys began to quiet down as they heard Coach Choi clear her throat. Jisung was standing close to the back of the cluster of students, so he couldn’t see her behind the large boys who he assumed to be seniors._

_“Alright, I’m assuming you’re all here because you’d like to play on the soccer team, so I’ll just get right to it. This year we will have a development team for the freshmen and sophomores which will have no cuts, and a varsity team for Seniors and Juniors. The varsity team will have cuts, and just because you were on the team last year doesn’t mean your spot is guaranteed.” Jisung could almost feel the boys wearing the varsity jackets tensing up, as if their egos had just been burst. “So for tryouts,” Coach Choi continued, “meet in the quad at 3:45 tomorrow, wear runners, not cleats. See you all there.” She finished and gave a small nod before walking away._

_The boys all dispersed, ready to go home after a long first day of school. Jisung shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket and started making his way to the exit of the gym, when he heard a small “Hey Jisung!” come from beside him. Jisung turned his head to the side quickly, causing his hood to fall down and saw the freckled boy who had sat beside him in math this morning._

_“Hey Felix,” Jisung pulled his hood back up onto his head, “are you trying out for the soccer team too?”_

_“Yeah, I played a bit at my old school in Australia, and mum says it would be a good way to make friends and stuff.” Felix says as he holds the gymnasium door open for Jisung and a couple other boys who were walking behind them._

_They made small talk as they walked out the gates of the school, and Jisung stopped when he reached his bus stop._

_“Oh, you take the bus too?” Felix asked, pulling his headphones out of his pocket. Jisung nods in response, and Felix adds, “My stop is right across the street, I live the other way” he lets out a little laugh at the end of his sentence, “See you tomorrow Jisung!”_

_Felix puts in his headphones and looks both ways before jogging across the road, to catch the bus that is about halfway down the street. Jisung watches as he gets on, and he can see Felix’s warm smile to the bus driver from all the way across the street. He snaps out of his trance as his own bus obstructs his vision and he realizes that he has to get on. He scans his card and looks up to see that the bus holding Felix was gone._

_Jisung sat down at the back of the bus and realized, he had just made a friend._

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! i'm sorry it took so long to upload, but i'm working hard to really commit to writing this ! <3 please feel free to give feedback in the comments or @cheesebin on twitter,, thank you for reading !

It was Wednesday. Jisung tightened the laces on his cleats and gave his socks a final tug towards his knee before running onto the soccer pitch. This was the team’s last practice before their big semi-final game on Friday, which would determine whether or not they would be able to go to the regional championships. Felix was already waiting on the field, his foot resting on top of the black and white soccer ball while he waited for Jisung to come into his passing range.

The rest of Jisung’s teammates were passing to each other around him, waiting for Coach Choi to show up and for practice to officially start. Felix flicked the ball up to Jisung’s chest area, letting out a laugh and a big smile as Jisung was still a bit out of it from Minho’s comment earlier that week and the ball just hit him in his chest.

_“I don’t really want to go to prom with anyone, I kinda just want to go by myself, you know?”_

Jisung knew he shouldn’t still be hung up on one stupid sentence, but he couldn’t help but think of it every time he heard Minho calling for the ball or saw him out of the corner of his eye just across the field.

“Hey, Ji” Felix yells from a few metres away, “What’s up?” Felix stops the ball at his feet easily as Jisung mindlessly kicks it back in his direction.

“Nothing, I’m fine, l-let’s just do some one-touch passing.” Jisung breathes out, almost too quiet for Felix to hear, but Felix just nods and passes Jisung the ball.

Felix could see Jisung looking over at where Minho and Hyunjin were passing to each other, laughing and talking about their day casually, sometimes doing a few juggles before passing it back to the other. Jisung had told Felix about his elaborate plan to ask Minho to prom just last week and had also told him on Monday that Minho said he wanted to go by himself.

Felix was confused, to say the least. He didn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to go to their senior prom with a date, or at least a friend. Felix was planning on ‘going’ with Seungmin just as friends, because he had assumed that Minho would say yes to Jisung’s proposal and he didn’t want to be dateless.

Jisung was standing flat-footed, staring blankly at the turf in front of him. He moved closer to Jisung, and he looked up at Felix with sparkling eyes that seemed like they could burst into tears in seconds and Felix said “Jisung, listen. Just try and focus on soccer this week, we really need you on top of your game if we want to go to regionals. I know this Minho thing is bumming you out, but you can always come with Seungmin and I if you’d like” Felix lowers his voice so the other members couldn’t hear him, and pats Jisung’s shoulder before giving him a small nod and running back to where he was standing before to pass him the ball.

As Jisung’s best friend, Felix knew he was being a little bit harsh on him, but Jisung needed a reality check in that moment. For the past three years, these 9 boys have worked their way from freshman benchwarmers to a senior starting lineup and have never won a gold medal. They’ve come close, with three consecutive bronze medals, but this year their collective goal was to finally take home the trophy.

Jisung sighed as he knew he had to get himself together, for the good of his teammates, his coach, and the love he had for the sport. He had to make all the blood, sweat and tears that he had put in ever since their freshman year worth it in the end.

 

_Felix nudged Jisung’s shoulder lightly, “Jisung, I’m scared. Is she gonna make us run?” Felix whispered into his friend’s ear as the freshmen waited for the first day of soccer tryouts to begin._

_“I sure hope not” Jisung breathes back, letting out a sigh. Nobody in their right mind enjoys mandatory fitness testing, but it was something he had to do if he wanted to make the team._

_Jisung wasn’t expecting to make the team at all, and neither was Felix. After two weeks of fitness testing, scrimmage games, and drills, the two boys were sore, bruised, and felt as if their entire bodies have been drained of energy._

_The boys were sitting on the edge of the field with the rest of the players after the last tryout, desperately chugging their water bottles out of dehydration as they noticed Coach Choi approaching them with a clipboard in her hands._

_“I usually don’t do this, but our varsity team is lacking this year, so I’ve decided to select nine freshmen to take onto the varsity team.” Felix and Jisung turn to each other, eyes wide with a glimmer of surprise and hope._

_“If I call your name, please stay behind and the rest of you are dismissed” Coach Choi says, flipping to the next page on her clipboard, she begins to recite off her list,_

_“Han Jisung,” Felix grabs Jisung’s arm and squeezes it tight, an action of congratulation and nervousness coming from Felix._

_“Bang Chan,” Jisung is still in shock, breathing heavily and grabs Felix’s hand out of surprise and as encouragement that Felix will make the team._

_“Hwang Hyunjin,”_

_“Kim Woojin,”_

_“Kim Seungmin,” The boys grip each other’s hands even tighter in anticipation, almost in desperation for them to join the team together._

_“Seo Changbin,”_

_“Yang Jeongin,”_

_“Lee Minho,” Felix has been counting the number of names that Coach Choi had called out and lightened his grip on Jisung’s hand as he lost hope for himself being the last name she calls._

_“And finally, Lee Felix. The rest of you are dismissed.”_ _Jisung turns to Felix, eyes even wider than they were before, with picture-perfect smiles on both of the boys’ faces._

_Neither of them were expecting to make it, but they did it,_

_together._

 


End file.
